law enforcement & tactical footwear

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28 ANSOM JANUARY 2011 www.ANSOMonline

According to one story, FBI operatives

gave birth to the tactical apparel cat-

egory by wearing clothes on the job

that were originally designed or mountaineer-

ing, i.e. outdoor garments designed or ease

o movement. A similar i opposite crossover

eect applies in tactical ootwear, where

civilianor at least non-militarypersonnel

beneft rom the ruggedness as well as support

that G.I. boots provide.

Thereore its not surprising that some othe leading military boot contractors also

manuacture boots to meet the requirements

o public saety personnel. One o the reasons

that transitioning military veterans oten

gravitate to jobs in law enorcement or public

saety is that the terrain is amiliar and the

skills are transerable. So it is in the realm o

tactical ootwear.

A rundown o some o the latest product

introductions in this category oers an illustra-

tion o this dynamic. There are new products

derived rom outdoor use and those that incor-

porate design eatures originally devised or

the military as well as new saety requirements.

Theyre listed alphabetically by manuacturer.Altama Footwear. This Atlanta-based

manuacturer has served both the military and

law enorcement markets since the late 1960s.

Taking a page rom its experience in develop-

ing hot-weather combat boots or the military

Altama has produced three series o tactical

boots intended to resist heat and reduce atigu

Altamas LITESpeed, EXOSpeed II and

Ortho-TacX series are the result, and each

brings something dierent to the party. The

LITESpped is intended expressly or hot

weather, the EXOSpeed is said to mix the

attributes o trail running shoes and combat

boots and the Ortho-TacX is said to be par-

ticularly well-suited to tactical operations.Bates Footwear. The uniorm boot maker

C3 tactical boot eatures its patented Cross

Channel Circulation technology, intended to

By Paul Bubn

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Law Enforcement &

Tactical footwear

Police and tactical boot manufacturers keep the innovationcoming in comfort, durability and safety features.


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ww.ANSOMonline.com ANSOM JANUARY 2011

keep eet cooler and more comortable. As thewearer moves about, air is orced through the

patented cross channel construction, providing

improved breathability.

Bates is continuously unveiling new

technologies with the goal o being a clear

innovative solutions provider, said Ron

Woznick, vice president and general manager

o Rockord, MI-based Bates. Comort and

ootwear breathability remain high priorities

or the law enorcement proession. We are

looking orward to seeing this new technology

on the streets where it will provide noticeable

comort dierences in the everyday lives o

men and women in law enorcement.

Condor Outdoor Products. A well-round-

ed brand or tactical clothing, ootwear and

accessories, Duarte, CA-based Condor oers

tactical boots such as the 802, an 8 model w/

YKK side zipper. Along with the dide zipper,

the boot also includes a leather upper with

padded collar, cushioned EAV removeable

contour insole, stitched outsole and steel

shank. The boots are popular both in real-lie

tactical situations (i.e. cops making lie-or-

death decisions) and incredible simulations

(i.e. airsot games).

Gore-Tex. W. L. Gore & Associates sayits improved its Crosstech ootwear abric to

enable boots to meet both NFPA 1971, 2005

edition, and NFPA 1992, 2007 edition certif-

cations. According to W.L. Gore, its currently

the only ootwear abric on the market that

acilitates this dual certifcation.

Along with oering protection against

liquids and the common chemicals specifed

in NFPA 1971, Crosstech also protects against

the more aggressive chemicals required

or NFPA 1992 certifcation, such as 98%

sulphuric acid, the company says. As a result,

ootwear manuacturers can use various ma-

terials including leather in their boot designs,

resulting in a lighter, better ft.

According to Bill Candy, North American

ootwear product specialist at W. L. Gore,

the chemicals specifed in NFPA 1971 are

those most oten encountered at fre scenes,

automobile accidents or home emergencies.

Toda, though, frst responders are requently

being called to large-scale incidents, wherethey unexpectedly encounter chemicals other

than those specifed by NFPA 1971, Candy

said. The unique construction o this new

Crosstech ootwear abric prevents penetra-

tion o approximately 75 chemicals specifed

in NFPA 1992 along with water, blood, body

uids, and the fve NFPA-1971 common

chemicals. He added that Crosstech pro-

vides this level o protection while maintain-

ing breathability, which improves comort.

Haix. The Lexington, KY-based manuac-

turer law enorcement, fre fghting, and rescue

ootwear recently brought out the GSG9-S or

SWAT and tactical use. Haix says the GSG9-S

was developed in cooperation with police and

SWAT teams and eatures an all-new design

to ulfll the many varying needs o tactical

ofcers. It was named ater the elite unit o the

German Federal Police, GSG9.

The 8 GSG9-S is constructed with Haixs

new Sun Reect leather, which is said to re-

duce the heating eect o the leather by direct

sunlight while at the same time providing

leather that is water resistant and breathable.

Magnum Footwear. Headquartered in

Modesto, CA, Magnum eatures Superabric

materials in its recently introduced Spider andSidewinder ranges. According to Magnum,

going the Superabric route was the very best

way to protect tactical boots uppers rom

abrasion damage caused by ast roping.

Magnum describes Superabric brand

technology as an advanced, multi-step

engineered process that takes ordinary abrics

and transorms them into a variety o unique,

protective solutions, known collectively as

Superabric Brand Materials. These new pro-

tective abrics can be engineered or optimum

resistance to cuts, punc-

tures and abrasions while

remaining highly ex-

ible. Optional properties

such as ame resistance,

specialized grip and more

make or a compete cus-

tomized solution.

Original S.W.A.T.

Footwear. The Stock-

ton, CA-based manuacturers collectiono waterproo boots now meet the ASTM

F1671-07 standards or blood borne pathogen

resistance. All o the waterproo models have

a waterproo breathable internal membrane

that eectively protects the wearer rom blood

borne pathogens.

Included in the line are the WinX2, the

Tactical Waterproo and the Air M.T. insulated

side zip boot. All three boots also meet ASTM

F 489-96 standards or slip- and oil-resistance,

while the Air M.T. Side Zip boot is insulated

as well with 200-gram 3M Thinsulate.

Wellco. Forty-six years ago, this Knoxville,

TN-based military contractor introduced the

jungle boot. Late last summer, the company

introduced Guardian GTX, a new series o

ootwear or law enorcement proession-

als. As one o the lightest-weight boots on

the market today, this new line o ootwear

combines comort with excellent traction and

protection against the harsh elements that pa-

trol and tactical ofcers encounter on the job,

according to Wellco.

Wellco incorporated Gore-Tex ootwear

abric into the boots construction to provide

waterproo, breathable protection. We chose

Gore-Tex ootwear abric as the waterproobarrier because o its reputation or deliver-

ing long-lasting breathability and protection,

said Kerry Ferguson, director o marketing at

Wellco and Smith & Wesson Footwear.

While working with Gore during the

design and construction o these new boots,

we ound that their commitment to deliver-

ing high-quality products is backed by years

o expertise in barrier design and some o the

most rigorous perormance testing available in

the industry today.

Continued from page 28

Law Enforcement &

Tactical footwear


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